CFP: Contours of Captivity (9/1/06; EGO, 11/2/06-11/3/06)

The Sixth Annual English Graduate Organization (EGO) InterdisciplinaryConference*Contours of Captivity: Resignifying Expressions of Power*November 2-3, 2006, at the University of Florida in GainesvilleKeynote Speaker: Marianne Hirsch, Columbia University

In early 2005, the image of an allegedly-captured American solider wasposted on a militant website. Dressed in desert camouflage fatigues, thesolider appeared to be at the mercy of captors but was quickly exposedas the "Cody" action figure from Dragon Models USA Inc. Removing thisimage from the weight of its national and political specificity, onesees that toys exist which allow people to play realistically at warwhile being safe from actual conflict. Even so, this computer-basedimage also shows how forms of technology work together to produce newarenas of fear and imaginative control. Apart from simply stretching ourcredulity, this picture reminds us of historical images of war whilesimultaneously gesturing toward our own entertainment practices.Moreover, the way in which this picture was received reminds us how weare captivated by media transmissions even as we perceive of and defineothers as captives.

In this conference, then, we will explore captivity--one of war'sconstituent parts--and confinement--one of culture's chief means ofcontrol. Throughout this conference, we seek a range ofinterdisciplinary approaches to the material and will consider thebroadest definitions of these terms. To do so, we invite presentationsaddressing anything from present-day or historical wars, slavery,imprisonment, and debilitating work practices to narratives of captivityor confinement in literature, film, video games, and other media to thecontrol and dissemination of information via journalism, governmentagencies, and blogs. During the conference, we hope to consider howcaptivity and confinement work together to ensure societal control aswell as how they work as instruments of physical control while alsobeing promoted as forms of entertainment in either writing, film, orgames. In so doing, we hope to illustrate the ongoing relevance ofliterary and cultural study to understanding mundane and extraordinaryforms of physical and ideological control.

Possible research areas include but are not limited to:

*Political, Religious, and Cultural Captive's Stories*Agency, resistance, and freedom in captivity narratives or slave narrativesCalvinism and the economics of redemptionPostcolonial narratives in resistance to empireBiographical and autobiographical accounts from incarcerated inmates

*Memory, Empathy, and Interpretations of Experience*Internment, ethnicity, and national memoryEndurance of political captivities in the public imaginationForgiveness, fear, or vengeance in response to captivityExaminations of the Stockholm Syndrome

*Real and Fictional Horrors in Multiple Media*Graphic representations, the spectacle, and limits of the gazeThe Truth of the news in newspapers, journals, and blogsFantasy and sci-fi stories of war, captivity, or alien abductionConfining and captive elements of video gamesImages of the captive, pain, and punishment in horror movies

*Binding Fictional Narratives*Captivity, heroism, and issues of normativity in fairy talesConfinement, discipline, and agency in the domestic novelBodice rippers, bondage, and the bodyImagination of confining or captive worlds in comics

*Economic Macro and Micro Crushes*Globalization of the economy and the captivity of debtor nationsEconomics in the recurrence of slavery, kidnapping, and piracySweatshops, migrant labor, or the sex tradeEconomics, paid labor, and the expansion of the prison system

*Social and Cultural Boundaries*Definitional barriers of languagePedagogical approaches to confinement and agency in the classroomPassing/In and Out - public perceptions of race and sexual identityTransgender definitions of confinement and the body

We invite individual paper and panel topic submissions from graduatestudents and faculty members. Proposals should be 500 words or less, andthe deadline for submissions is September 1, 2006. To submitelectronically (preferred), please go to the conference submissions pageat http://grove.ufl.edu/~gsg/bwwc/submit.php?cf=4 and follow theinstructions. To submit in hardcopy format, please mail abstracts to